Slidable barrel firearm with safety preventing opening of the firearm while cocked



July 16, 1968 K. P. v. c KAVANAGH 3,

SLIDABLE BARREL FIREARM WITH SAFETY PREVENTING OPENING OF THE FIREARMWHILE COCKED Filed Nov. 25, 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Inventor JAMES K. P-V- C KAVANAGH By M A llorngys J. K. P. v. c. KAVANAGH 3,392,470

3 Sheets-Shut 2 OPENING OF THE FIREARM WHILE COCKED SLIDABLE BARRELFIREARM WITH SAFETY PREVENTING July 16, 1968 Filed Nov. 25, 1966 a In. MQ 6& m g m a o A L Ax y a w 4 P h K v w a 1 O M 4 *v t Q r /gaua Y AHome July 16, 1968 .J. K. P. v. c. KAVANAGH 3,

SLIDABLE BARREL FIREARM WITH SAFETY PREVENTING OPENING OF THE FIREARMWHILE COCKED 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Nov. 25, 1966 lnvenlor w H m m N Mmm .B C

United States Patent ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A gun barrel slidablewith respect to the breech block to an open position to eject thecartridges and cock the firing mechanism. A locking device andassociated safety catch prevent opening the gun while cocked.

This invention relates to firearms of the type in which the breech isbroken to expose the breech chamber by relative movement between thebarrel assembly and the stock on which a butt is mounted. The inventionis applicable to non-automatic firearms such as shot-guns, rifles orcombination Weapons, whether they are single or double barrelled, and tosimilar firearms such as pistols.

The main object of the present invention is to provide such a firearmwhich is simple to manufacture, operate and keep in working condition.

According to the present invention a firearm comprises a stock, astanding breech block on the stock, a firing mechanism carried by thestock, a firing pin extending through the breech block and actuatable bythe firing mechanism to cause it to be projected forwardly to fire thefirearm, a barrel support secured to the stock and extending forwardlyof the breech block, a barrel assembly mounted on the barrel support tomove with respect to the breech block to open and close the breechchamber in the barrel assembly, an extractor device adjacent thestanding block and co-operating with the firing pin to eject a spentcartridge from the breech chamber, a cocking device operativelyconnected to the firing mechanism and actuated by movement of the barrelassembly with respect to the stock, and a butt on the stock, the Wholebeing constructed so that, when the locking device is released, relativemovement between the barrel assembly and the stock causes a spentcartridge case to be ejected by the extractor and causes the firingmechanism to be cocked.

In order that the invention may be more fully understood an embodimentin accordance therewith, in the form of the double barrelled shot-gun,will now be described by way of example with reference to theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a firearm stock having a barrel assemblysupport,

FIG. 2 is a side view of the firing mechanism of the firearm of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a side view partly in cross section of the barrel assembly andcocking device of the firearm,

FIG. 4 is a cross section on the line IV-IV of FIG. 3,

FIG. 5 is a cross section on the line V-V of FIG. 3,

FIG. 6 is a view of the stock looking from the left in FIG. 1; and,

FIG. 7 is an elevation of the locking device of FIGS. 1 and 2.

In the figures the same references are used to designate the same parts.

Referring to the drawings, these show a firearm com- 3,392,470 PatentedJuly 16, 1968 prising a stock 1, a standing breech block 2 on the stock,a firing mechanism carried by the stock, a firing pin 4 extendingthrough the breech block, a barrel support 5 secured to the stock, abarrel assembly 6, an extractor device 7, a cocking device 8, a lockingdevice 9 and a butt 10 on the stock.

Referring to the drawings, the stock 1 is formed of an open frame 12 tothe front end of which is secured the standing breech block 2 and fromwhich extends forwardly the barrel support 5 having parallel compressorspring slots 14, one for each barrel, extending upwardly into a cockingbar slot 15. The upper portion of the support 5 has longitudinal guideslots 13 one on each side of the support to guide the barrel assemblytherealong as will be described.

The standing breech block 2 has two firing pins 4 one above the other,the firearm shown being of the over-andunder type of double barrelledshot-gun. Each pin 4 is slidably retained in a hollow plug 16 and urgedby a compressed light spring 17 to extend out of the head 18 of theplug, the other end of the pin, when the spring 17 is compressedextending out of the rear face 19 of the block 2. The plug with theassembled pin and spring is screwed into a threaded bore 20 in the block2 and secured against rotation by suitable means such as a grub screwthrough the side wall of the block into the bore 20. The front face 21of the plug head 18 is recessed within an upstanding rim 22, the heightof the rim being substantially equal to the thickness of the rim of acartridge case to be used in the firearm for the purpose to bedescribed. The plug is normally secured in the block 2 so that when thebarrels are assembled thereon and the firearm is loaded and made readyfor firing, the base of the cartridge case rests snugly against the face21 of the plug; if during use the face 21 tends to wear, the plug can bereleased and screwed along the bore 20 until the cartridge case againrests snugly against the face 21, and then the plug is refixed. Thespring 17 is described as a light spring to indicate that in the loadedand firing position of the firearm, the percussion cap of the cartridgecase will engage the pin 4 and displace it axially in the plug for thepurpose to be further explained.

The barrel assembly 6 comprises two barrels 23 suitably secured togetherover their length, and having their rear ends secured in a barrel block24, provided with parallel guides 25 slidably engaged in the guide slots15. The breech chamber of the barrels is shaped to receive the cartridgecases so that their base rims project beyond the barrel bore when thecartridges are fully engaged in the chamber and thus, when the block 24is moved into engagement with the standing block 2, the cartridge rimsenter the plug recesses 21a to engage the plug faces 21.

At one point on each recess, shown in the drawings as at the top andbottom of the upper and lower barrels respectively, is an extractordevice 7; this device comprises a hook pivoted at 26 to the block 2 andurged by a spring 27 into the position where its hooked edge 28 (FIG. 1)engages over the cartridge rim, and as the loaded barrels are movedrearwardly to the block 2, the cartridge rim engages the tapered frontface of the extractor pushing in radially outwards of the cartridge sothat the cartridge rim is engaged behind the hook which is then housedin the cavity 29 in the barrel block 24.

The block 24 has a portion 30 of reduced height at its rear end and thisportion at each side of the firearm has a vertical slot 31 to receivethe locking slide 32, in the form of an inverted U sliding vertically inslots in the sides and top of the block 2. The base of the U has anaperture 33 in which is engaged a toe on a locking lever 35 pivoted at36 on the stock frame 12. The rear end of the lever 35 extends upwardlyout of the frame 12 and is urged upwardly by a spring 37, thus urgingthe slide 32 to lock the barrel in position. In this position, thefiring pin is pressed rearwardly by the cartridge case percussion cap;if the firearm is broken by lifting the slide 32 and sliding the barrelsforward on the support 5, the hooked edge 28 will hold the cartridge rimso that the cartridge is withdrawn from the breech chamber; as soon asthe front of the cartridge is clear of the chamber, the pin 4 will bepushed forward by the light spring 17 and pivot the cartridge rim aboutthe edge 28 thereby ejecting the cartridge. This happens if thecartridge is spent, but if the cartridge has not been fired, it will notbe ejected since the firing mechanism is cocked as will be explained; ifhowever the mechanism has been uncocked so that the pin is compressed bythe cartridge case, then on breaking the firearm, the cartridge will beejected.

The firing mechanism 3 comprises a hammer 133 for each barrel, i.e. eachpin 4, with its trigger and associated cocking device 8. One hammer 133is shown for the upper barrel and is pivoted at 134 to the frame 12, andhas a toe 135, which is in the path of rearward movement of the cockingdevice, and a nose 36; a scar 37a, forming one arm of a lever 38 pivotedat 39 to the frame 12, lies in the path of movement of the hammer toengage the nose 36 and hold the hammer in the position in FIG. 2. Thetrigger 39 pivoted at 40 to the frame 12 is urged by a spring 41 intothe last named position; thus pulling the trigger rearwardly lifts therear of the lever 38 releasing the hammer which is then projectedrapidly towards and hits the rear end of the pin 4 thus forcing the pinto strike the cartridge percussion cap and fire the firearm. The sear37a and the trigger for one or both barrels may be a unitary element.

A spring urged lever 42, which may be a leaf-spring fixed or pivoted at43 can be held against the lever 38, and prevent movement of the trigger39, by the safety catch in the form of a lever 44 pivoted at 45 to theframe 12. The lever 44 has a notch 46 which when the lever is in theinoperative position will block the downward movement of the lockinglever 35 by engaging the part 47 thereof so that the firearm cannot beunlocked, i.e. broken. while it is cocked.

Referring to FIG. 3 this shows the cocking device; sliding within eachslot 14 is a cocking rod 48 with which the toe of the trigger isoperatively engaged; this rod has a rod 49 of smaller diameter securedto it at the front end of which is secured a compression element 50which is common to both barrels; the compression element has its rearend 51 sliding on the element 50- the head 52 of which retains theelement 50 thereon. The element 50 is hollow permitting the head 52 toslide therein and a compression spring 53 is disposed round the rod 49between the rod 48 and element 50 so that when element 50 is telescopedover the rod 49 the spring is compressed.

The element 50 has an upstanding lug 54 engaging in a slot 55 in acocking bar 56 slidably disposed in a lug 57 fast with the barrelassembly. The cocking bar 56 has a forward lug 58 and rear lug 59 onopposite sides of the lug 57 and spaced apart by a distance equal to thefull opening movement of the barrel assembly along its sup- While themechanism for one barrel has been described it will be understood thatthe mechanism for the other barrel is identical, there being one lockingbar for the two barrels and the one lug 57 is on the element 50 whichactuates the cooking of both barrel firing mechanisms; the hammer 133for the other barrel only differs from that described by being shaped tostrike the pin 4 of the other barrel. The scar of the second barrel isalongside the one shown in FIG. 2 and is similarly shaped thereto, thesafety catch acting on both sears. If one barrel has been fired, thesafety catch will still put both sears to safety, but the sear of thefired tumbler 133 will move idly clear of its hammer.

The operation of the firearm is as follows:

Assuming that the gun has been broken, both breech chambers are emptyand the firing mechanism is uncocked, both barrels are then loaded withlive cartridges by pushing the cartridges fully into their chambers. Inthis position the springs 53 are fully extended and the barrel assemblyis not fully to the left in the drawings but the lug 57 abuts the lug58. By pulling the assembly fully to the left in FIGS. 1 to 3, the head52 being at the right hand end of the element 50, the element 50, rod49, rod 48 all move to the left pivoting the hammer 133 clockwise sothat the sears 37a, under the downward pressure of the spring 42,engages the hammer and holds it in this cocked position. The barrelassembly is then pressed to the right in FIGS. 1-3 towards the closedbreech position and the lug 57 engages the rear lug 59 forcing the bar56 to the right and thus the elements 50 slide along the rods 49compressing the springs 53. This continues until the portion 30 of theblock 24 rides past the locking slide 32 and the toes of the slide 32come into register with the slots 31 and by operation of the lockinglever 35 under action of the spring 37 the slide toes enter the slots 31locking the block 24 in firm contact with the upstanding breech block 2.During this final movement the rims of the cartridge cases pass underthe extractors and engage the recessed faces 21 of the block 2 while thecartridge case percussion caps force the pins 4 to the right in FIGS.1-3 against the action of the light springs 17, so that they projectinto the path of the tumblers 133. The firearm is now loaded and cocked:the safety catch can be applied to fix the mechanism in this position.To fire a barrel the safety catch is released so that the sears are freeto pivot: when a trigger 39 is pressed rearwardly, its toe frees thehammer 133, and the spring 53 snaps the hammer 133 in an anti-clockwisemovement to strike the pin 4 which slides through its plug to strike thepercussion cap. If the locking lever is then freed, the barrels can beslid forwardly manually assisted by the still partly compressed spring53, during which time both cartridges are held by the extractors and arethereby drawn out of the barrels. When clear of the barrels, a firedcartridge is ejected by the co-operation of the pin 4 and the extractor,while the fired cartridge remains held by the extractor since its pin 4is still in the cocked position and the spring 17 cannot operate. Thesecond cartridge case will be elected if it too has been fired.

Thus the firearm cannot be broken until the safety catch is in the Safeposition, an unfired cartridge cannot be ejected, and the cartridges arealways withdrawn when the firearm is broken. The length of the springs53 is such that when the firearm is closed and the barrels have beenfired, the movement of the hammer allows the rod 48 to move suflicientlyfar to the right in FIGS. 1-3 to allow the springs 53 to become fullydecompressed thereby giving them a long working life, the cocking bar 56being urged to the left in FIG. 3 by the spring 53.

It will be understood that the cocking mechanism may be varied bycorrectly positioning the springs 53 with respect to the rods 48, 49 andelement 50, that on breaking the firearm the firing mechanism is firstcocked and then the spent cartridges ejected. Moreover the locking levermay be mounted on the barrel assembly with the slide 32 which thenengages slots 31 on the standing breech block 2: in any case the lockingdevice can only be released when the safety catch is at Safe. Furtherthe firing mechanism may be electrically operated by a solenoidenergised by an electric battery stored in the frame 12 or in the butt,the armature then causing the hammer 133 to actuate the pins 4. Thesprings 53 may be used only to facilitate breaking the firearm andseparate cocking springs are then provided. The barrels of the barrelassembly are preferably wholly or partly encased in wooden elements in aconventional manner.

What I claim is:

1. A firearm comprising a stock, a standing breech block on the stock, aspring actuated firing mechanism carried by the stock, a firing pinextending through the breech block and actuatable by the firingmechanism to cause it to be projected forwardly to fire the firearm, abarrel support secured to the stock and extending forwardly of thebreech block, a barrel assembly mounted on the barrel support to slideaxially with respect to the breech block to open and close the breechchamber in the barrel assembly, an extractor device adjacent thestanding block and co-operating with the firing pin to extract a spentcartridge from the breech chamber, a cocking device operativelyconnected to the firing mechanism and actuated by movement of the barrelassembly with respect to the stock, a butt on the stock, a lockingdevice for securing the barrel assembly against the breech block and asafety catch movably mounted on the stock and movable from an inoperableposition to a safe position in which a portion thereof locks the searagainst movement and locks the locking device preventing the firearmbeing broken at least when the firearm is cocked.

2. A firearm according to claim 1 wherein the extractor comprises aspring loaded catch pivoted to one side of the standing breech block anddisposed in the path of the rim of a cartridge case in the breechchamber as the firearm is closed, and the firing pin is urged by a lightspring, independent of the firing mechanism spring, into engagement withthe cartridge percussion cap whereby when the firearm is broken theextractor holds the case until it is clear of the barrel and then thelight spring thrusts the pin towards the case pivoting the case aboutthe extractor to eject it.

3. A firearm according to claim 1 wherein the firing pin is slidablydisposed in a central bore in a plug adjustably secured in the standardbreech block so as to be adjusted for wear.

4. A firearm according to claim 1, wherein a breech assembly is providedwhich includes a breech block in which the barrel assembly terminateswith a breech chamber, a barrel block having a rearward lockingextension and being movable longitudinally of the barrel support, andsaid locking device is provided on the standing breech block whereby asthe breech and barrel blocks are brought into engagement to close thefirearm the locking extension and the locking device co-operate to lockthe blocks together.

5. A firearm according to claim 4 wherein the locking means comprises alocking lever pivoted to the stock and operatively connected to alocking slide sliding on the standing block to engage slots in thelocking extension of the barrel block.

6. A firearm according to claim 5 wherein the barrel support houses acocking device, a firing hammer is pivoted to the stock and articulatedto a rod of the cocking device disposed in a longitudinal bore in thebarrel support, said rod has its forward end slidably disposed in acompressing element in said longitudinal bore, a cocking spring isdisposed on said rod for compression by said element, said element isarticulated to a cocking bar slidable with respect to said support andrelative to the barrel assembly between spaced abutments thereon,whereby on closing the firearm the barrel assembly moves the bar tocompress the spring, and on breaking the firearm the spring assistsmovement of the barrel assembly along the support during the cartridgeejection and in the final forward movement of the barrel assembly on thesupport, moves said element and rod forwards to move the hammer into thecocked position.

7. A a firearm according to claim 1 wherein a sear is pivoted to thestock with a toe in the path of hammer movement and is urged by aresilient member to hold the hammer in the cocked position, a trigger ispivoted to the stock so that when moved by the operator it trips thesear to release the hammer and permit it to move under power to strikethe rear end of the firing pin.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 442,453 12/ 1890 Parry 42-41650,829 6/1900 Evans 42-10 808,107 12/1905 McKeen 42--11 1,054,069 2/1913 Wilson 4241 1,223,411 4/1917 Marble 4210 1,226,478 5/1917 Diehm42-25 1,302,909 5/1919 Giddings 42-41 1,792,732 2/1931 Crawford 42-412,353,885 7/1944 Fanger et a1 42-51 FOREIGN PATENTS 595,188 7/1925France.

BENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, Primary Examiner.

